| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00:01.60 | Kristina Feller | Maria, are you ready for us? |
| 00:00:06.19 | Kristina Feller | I hand it over to you. Thank you very much. Good evening everybody and welcome to the regular planning commission meeting. scheduled for this Wednesday, November 16th. I want to welcome everybody. And Director Phipps, welcome to you. If I could ask that you please provide an orientation on the public advisory for our Zoom application here for our meeting and also call this meeting to order. |
| 00:00:31.22 | Director Phipps | Happy to. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Feller and Planning Commissioners. This meeting is being held pursuant to Government Code Section 54953, Subsection E, and in light of the declared state of emergency, the regular meeting of the Planning Commission on November 16, 2022, will be conducted telephonically through Zoom and broadcast live on the City's website. With that, I will move to call roll. Commissioner Saad. |
| 00:01:00.46 | Nastassya Saad | here. |
| 00:01:01.84 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Graff. here. Commissioner Luxenberg. |
| 00:01:06.20 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 00:01:06.22 | Director Phipps | You know, Vice Chair, Jernius. as in. Chair Feller. |
| 00:01:11.39 | Kristina Feller | here. |
| 00:01:12.61 | Director Phipps | we have achieved quorum. |
| 00:01:14.55 | Kristina Feller | Great, thank you very much. Let's move on to item number two, which is the approval of the agenda. If I could just by show of hands, ask any commissioners if they have any comment on the agenda. If not, I will take a motion to approve. |
| 00:01:29.11 | Richard Graef | Move to approve. |
| 00:01:30.87 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Thank you. Could you please call roll, Director Phipps? |
| 00:01:36.84 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:01:36.86 | Director Phipps | Yes, thank you, Chair. Commissioner Saad. |
| 00:01:36.88 | Nastassya Saad | Yes, thank you, Chair. Commissioner |
| 00:01:39.46 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:01:39.59 | Nastassya Saad | . |
| 00:01:39.73 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:01:40.62 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Graff. Yeah. commissioner of Luxembourg. |
| 00:01:44.37 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes. |
| 00:01:45.57 | Director Phipps | Vice Chair Junius. Yes. Yes, sir. I'm not. |
| 00:01:49.52 | Kristina Feller | Yes. |
| 00:01:50.75 | Director Phipps | Motion carries unanimously. |
| 00:01:50.78 | Kristina Feller | Motion carries. Great, thank you very much. Moving on to item number three. This is a time to make public comment on any items that are not on the agenda this evening. Director Phipps, could you provide some orientation to the public on how to raise their hand in the Zoom application or on their cell phone? |
| 00:02:10.66 | Director Phipps | Yes, thank you, Chair. This is the time for the Planning Commission to hear from citizens regarding matters that are not on the agenda. Except in very limited situations, state law precludes the Planning Commission from taking action on or engaging in discussions concerning items of business that are not the agenda. However, the Planning Commission may refer matters not on the agenda to staff or direct the subject to be agendized at a future meeting. Video or audio public comment participation is limited to three minutes per speaker. If you would like to make a comment, please raise your hand in the Zoom application and you will be called upon when it is your time to speak. To raise your hand from a phone, press star nine. Each speaker will be notified when the time has collapsed. Thank you, Chair. |
| 00:02:58.03 | Kristina Feller | Thank you very much. for the avoidance of any doubt, have we received any public comment correspondence by email or by mail. |
| 00:03:12.39 | Director Phipps | I have not. |
| 00:03:15.31 | Kristina Feller | Okay. I think that we on our agenda there's one memo but are there any other public comments that we've received? as a tonight. |
| 00:03:28.40 | Director Phipps | No public comment in advance of the meeting, but I am seeing one hand raised. |
| 00:03:32.72 | Kristina Feller | Right. Yeah. Perfect. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay, Ms. White, Sue White, you have your hand raised. If we could unmute Ms. White and welcome this evening. You have three minutes for public comment. If you could also turn on your camera if you'd like to do so. The floor is yours. You've got Mr. White instead. |
| 00:03:54.56 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:03:54.66 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 00:03:55.40 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:03:55.69 | Kristina Feller | Oh, |
| 00:03:56.03 | Nastassya Saad | Okay. |
| 00:03:57.02 | Mr. White | And so we don't screw it up. We may not turn on the camera. So first of all, thank you. I'll make this very quick. First of all, thank you for allowing us a couple of minutes to express our concern over the development of 654 Sausalito Boulevard. The most important thing is we want to thank Brandon Phipps, the new fellow in charge. Sue and I and our neighbors are very grateful for his restoring the unsightly fencing around 654, which was just awful for a long period of time. Secondly, he made significant moves to make sure that a tree protection plan was followed And lastly, he assured us that moving forward, the community development committee would ensure that code and standard practices were followed. Couple of questions about city code. As I'm sure you know, the demolition took pretty close to Three weeks? Three months. Three months. And many of our neighbors who built their own homes on Sausalito Boulevard accomplished it within days, let alone weeks or even months. |
| 00:04:58.06 | Sergio Rudin | Bye. Yeah. |
| 00:05:09.11 | Mr. White | So we assume that there are some rules about construction. And we'd like to know in moving forward what these codes and rules are for the length of the construction so that we have a better idea of what to expect. We have another issue, which I'm sure some of you have seen driving by our property. The portable toilet is literally for free from the entrance to our carport. So we see this every time we take a car out and every time we bring it in. And this has been there for a long time. And I'm sure there's none of you on this committee that would want that as an unsightly thing for this length of time. Hopefully it can be moved to a different part of the property. Uh, Under normal circumstances, you know, you would think that we would be able to communicate something as simple as this to the buttles, the owners of the property. but this has been extremely difficult right from the beginning. I think this went sour on any kind of a relationship when the planning commission did not approve their initial plans for the house. So we can't communicate with them. they seem to go out of their way to want to aggravate us. And consequently, we have to appeal to you and the community development for anything that involves fair practices and protection. Uh, so, uh, that's a position. We need your help. We can appeal to them. And hopefully... you can help us with these requests. Thank you for your time. |
| 00:06:59.32 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Mr. White. or I'm not. Thank you for being here this evening. I'm just looking for any, any other hands in the audience, um, for any public comment for items not on the agenda this evening. |
| 00:07:16.12 | Kristina Feller | I am not seeing any additional hands at this time, so I'm gonna go ahead and close public comment. Director Phipps, thank you for working on this issue. It has come before the Planning Commission in the past. I would like to ask that you and your staff, please continue to coordinate. with the whites and their neighbors as necessary to clarify any issues regarding the terms of the permits both for demo and new building. perhaps you can look into this port-a-potty issue and would ask that any issues that you need to bring back to this commission for either clarification or for any additional discussion, you do so at our next hearing. |
| 00:08:07.31 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:08:07.33 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Chair. |
| 00:08:07.38 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you, Chair. |
| 00:08:08.93 | Kristina Feller | Great, thank you very much. Let's move on at this time to item number four, which is the approval of the planning commission minutes. We have one item. 4A, which is the meeting from October 19th. So I'm just looking if anybody has any comments or edits. Commissioner Luxenberg, I'll start with you. Do you have any comments or edits? |
| 00:08:30.28 | Jeffery Luxenberg | None. Thank you, Chair Feller. |
| 00:08:32.95 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Commissioner Saad. No questions or comments. Thank you, Commissioner Graff. |
| 00:08:39.43 | Richard Graef | No comment. |
| 00:08:40.83 | Kristina Feller | Thank you vice chair genius. |
| 00:08:42.46 | Richard Graef | No comments. |
| 00:08:42.50 | Kristina Feller | No comment. I do not have any either. I will entertain a motion to approve and a second. |
| 00:08:49.18 | Jeffery Luxenberg | So moved. |
| 00:08:50.45 | Kristina Feller | Take it. Great, thank you very much. Director Phipps, could you please call the roll? |
| 00:08:55.76 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 00:08:55.78 | Director Phipps | Certainly. Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Asad. |
| 00:08:58.45 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. |
| 00:08:59.74 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Kraft. |
| 00:09:00.99 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah. |
| 00:09:02.29 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Luxenberg. Yes. Vice Chair Junius. |
| 00:09:06.41 | Nastassya Saad | Yes. |
| 00:09:07.54 | Director Phipps | Chair Feller. |
| 00:09:08.59 | Kristina Feller | Yes. |
| 00:09:09.94 | Director Phipps | Motion carries unanimously. |
| 00:09:11.95 | Kristina Feller | Great. Wonderful. Alright moving on to item five, which is communications. Director Phipps, why don't I hand this over to you to get the ball rolling on any city staff communications, then we'll move to commissioners. |
| 00:09:26.30 | Director Phipps | Thank you very much, Chair Feller. I will start us off regarding the first item, CDD staffing. Updates to the commission are twofold. Firstly, the department was happy to welcome principal planner, Kristen Tieche, to the team at the beginning of this month. She has decades of experience as a planner in Marin County and was a former employee of City of Sausalito. She is primarily assisting the department with optimizing our processes. PLANNER IN MARIN COUNTY AND WAS A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF CITY OF SALSALIDO. SHE IS PRIMARILY ASSISTING THE DEPARTMENT WITH OPTIMIZING OUR PROCESSES WITHIN THE PLANNING DIVISION AND CHARTING A COURSE FORWARD TO ADDRESS OUR OUTSTANDING PLANNING PROJECT PERMIT LIST. WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE HER AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH HER IN THE COMING MONTHS. SECONDLY, OUR SOLICITATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF IN CDD are ongoing. We currently have open solicitations for the role of building official, associate planner, and code enforcement officer. The last update I received regarding the building official position is we have received a number of qualified applicants, and I will work with our interim HR manager, Deborah, much more to schedule interviews in the coming weeks, and we'll keep commissioners informed of any updates moving forward. That does it for me for this communication item, and I'd like to pass the torch to Cecilia Moela to provide an update communication on code enforcement. |
| 00:10:46.51 | Sergio Rudin | Thank you. |
| 00:10:56.30 | Cecilia Moela | Thank you very much and good evening. Commission Chair Feller. My update this evening is to just bring an update on the cases that we currently have open. As of last reporting period that we reported on September 7th, we currently have We currently had 61 open code enforcement cases at that point. Currently, we have 59. open cases, two of them have been closed. We have made progress in noticing for some of the current open cases, most of which are building without permits, so construction without permits, getting folks in to get their permits and getting those issued and out and through the processes of inspections. Out of the 59 current open cases, 13 of them are short term rental response cases that we are currently working with post compliance. We are going to be meeting with the cool of post compliance to Go back to the drawing board and get a game plan to see where we're at with enforcement thereof. In addition, we did follow up at the Bonita property with the connex box and the van that was parked on the side yard. We contacted the property owner on the 11th of November, sent her a notice of violation prior to that. She will be removing the conics box as of this Friday, the 18th, and we are following up with re-inspection on the 30th of this month with Code Enforcement Officer Erasmia Costas-Tapulis. In addition to that, we did draft a leaf blower violation response letter so that when we do get those leaf blower complaints come in, we're able to go out and make contact and issue that initial letter stating that that is any legal practice in the city of Sausalito. CLOSELY FOR COMPLAINTS COME IN, WE ARE ABLE TO GO OUT, MAKE CONTACT AND ISSUE THAT INITIAL LETTER STATING THAT THAT IS ANY LEGAL PRACTICE IN THE CITY OF SALSALIDO. WE ARE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH COUNTY OF MARIN'S ENVIRONMENTAL UNITS TO FOLLOW UP ON SUBSTANDARD COMPLAINTS. THEY TAKE THE FIRST BRUNT OF THE MEDIATION COMPONENT, WORKING WITH THE PROPERTY OWNERS AND TENANTS, AND THEN WHATEVER ISN'T RESOLVED OR LANCED INTO THE REALM OF ENFORCEMENT, WE TAKE ON AND MOVE FORWARD And that is all that I have to report tonight. Thank you. |
| 00:13:00.96 | Kristina Feller | Thank you very much. Director Phipps, could I please ask that the full list of enforcement items is circulated to the commission. We've asked for this previously and have not received that. But it would be helpful to to get that so so we're aware of these as well. We've we've actually heard a number of the issues. here at the commission have asked those to go onto the list so we need to make sure that they are on the list and I would just ask that we please agendize this for our next meeting so that we can actually enter into a discussion and take public comment on this as well the public has been extremely helpful in identifying enforcement issues to us as well. Let's go ahead and agendize that as a business item. |
| 00:13:54.33 | Director Phipps | Will do Chair Feller and thank you for the feedback. I will work with CC to ensure that we were able to meet those requests. |
| 00:14:02.80 | Sergio Rudin | And chair, while you know it's certainly fine for the planning commission |
| 00:14:03.53 | Nastassya Saad | And... |
| 00:14:08.42 | Sergio Rudin | to be aware of pending code enforcement cases. and for city staff and city code enforcement officers to update the commission about those matters as they're ongoing. Because the Planning Commission does have enforcement powers with respect to revocation of permits, I would say that to the extent that you may end up having to do some enforcement yourself. It is important that commissioners be aware that they need to keep an open mind about any pending code enforcement matters and should not make comments or statements about pending code enforcement matters on the chance that they may come before you at a future hearing. |
| 00:14:51.28 | Kristina Feller | That's excellent advice. And I appreciate that very much for keeping us on track here. So thank you. for reminding us about that. I appreciate it. |
| 00:15:02.67 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:15:03.59 | Kristina Feller | Okay, back to you, Director Phipps, for the other items here. |
| 00:15:07.69 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Chair Feller. I'd like to pass the torch to Rayleigh Glasser to provide a building code adoption update. |
| 00:15:17.07 | Rayleigh Glasser | Good evening, Commissioners. I'm Rayleigh Glasser. interim building official for the city of Sausalito. I do have a, a slideshow I'd like to present. So it's okay, I'm gonna go ahead and share my screen. |
| 00:15:37.93 | Rayleigh Glasser | Can you guys see that okay? |
| 00:15:40.04 | Nastassya Saad | Yes. |
| 00:15:41.30 | Rayleigh Glasser | Excellent. Okay, so last evening we took the adoption of the 2022 California Building Code. The second hearing to the regular Council meeting. And then this is just a slideshow I put together for them. This is the 2022 California Code of Regulations, also known as Title 24. Um, This is based on the 2021 international codes. It is updated every three years and it takes effect statewide on January 1st of 2023. I mean with myself here, sorry about that. And so local jurisdictions can amend the state codes based on specific unique local conditions. That's a topographic, geologic and climatic. and A couple of those examples that you know what that looks like. Topographic is steep hills, so a lot of Sausalito. Geologic is earthquake prone zones, climatic areas with limited rainfall or excessive rainfall. I made some adjustments to amendments that were made in the past, and those are here. I can just touch on a few of them. Work without permits. the You didn't need building permits in the past for a six foot fence that changed with the code a few years ago. It was left as an amendment and I changed it to the seven foot regulations, so it now mirrors the 2022 code. I also removed Amendment number seven which, um, Somebody had previously changed the word millwork. Well, the word is cabinet and they changed it to millwork. Those mean the same thing. So I just mirrored the 2022 code to reflect the word cabinet. And also, It removed the amendment that spoke about extensions. So the 2022 and 2019 codes actually allowed the building official to grant one or more extensions. The amendment read one extension, Um, Given where we are, I thought that it would be best to allow for the one or more extensions you just never know people have things that come up. Deaths and families, unfortunately, and issues where it's hard to get materials, so I removed the one time extension to one or more extensions. Um, I changed the minimum hourly inspections for after hours and weekend inspections to from three hours to four hours to be in line with our consultant contracts. And then I removed the need for permits to be on site. So I know if you drive around town, you'll see a permit on site. You can actually physically see it on the building. It's a very antiquated approach. We all have land management softwares now. Our building inspectors drive around with iPads. Those were typically meant in the past so that the building inspector could see if there was a permit and neighbors. We've made it very simple for neighbors to log into the website Sausalita website and onto the land management software to see if anybody has a permit if they'd like to know. Some of the major changes, there weren't a lot. They were kind of code specific, but two of that that might jump out at you are, mass timber is in the code. It talks about mass timber and and specifically shipping containers. So mass timber construction is an energy efficient alternative to high rise and commercial buildings. Oops, sorry about that. Um, Lost my page. And It's a mass timber is a renewable and sustainable material for buildings for a with a lighter carbon footprint lighter than steel or concrete. It has a positive environment environmental impact and has proven to be structurally sound and strong. Also, over the past several years, or a few years at least, we've seen People using shipping containers for apartments, transitional housing, which is huge, military facilities and additional dwelling units. And they now have and speak to shipping containers specifically in the code. So we're able to see that. So last night the council voted to approve, and these should be going into effect on January 1st. Thank you. |
| 00:20:07.96 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Thank you really because this is under communications. We're not in a position to enter into dialogue. |
| 00:20:16.87 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah. |
| 00:20:17.09 | Kristina Feller | I'll just make a point here, Director Phipps, that this commission has asked for funding from the city council for two years now. to update the ordinances. It's the legislative mandate from the state that the planning commission actually oversees the building codes. and the ordinances. And we, I'm a little bit alarmed that this did not come through the commission for recommendations to the city council. which is standard practice. So this is somewhat circumvented the legislative mandate of the commission. So can we please have a separate meeting, myself, Vice Chair Junius, and you about this? And then separately, can we please agendize this for discussion at our next hearing? |
| 00:21:11.12 | Kristina Feller | And we did. |
| 00:21:11.87 | Director Phipps | Yes. |
| 00:21:12.47 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Director Phipps. |
| 00:21:14.53 | Director Phipps | Chair Feller, happy to, thank you. |
| 00:21:16.27 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:21:17.42 | Rayleigh Glasser | And did you want to invite Melanie up for the reach code update as well? That was part of ours. |
| 00:21:18.28 | Kristina Feller | And Dr. Kitts, |
| 00:21:25.77 | Director Phipps | Yeah, so we had a follow on item that is complementary to Raley's item. And yeah, with that, I'd like to pass the torch to Melanie Jacobson. recording. |
| 00:21:36.23 | Kristina Feller | Recording stop. Recording in progress. |
| 00:21:39.19 | Director Phipps | founder and principal of ID 360. Go ahead, Melanie. |
| 00:21:46.44 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah. |
| 00:21:47.00 | Melanie Jacobson | Good evening, can you hear me and see me okay? |
| 00:21:47.03 | Nastassya Saad | Good evening. |
| 00:21:49.45 | Melanie Jacobson | Thank you. |
| 00:21:49.53 | Nastassya Saad | Yes. |
| 00:21:49.88 | Melanie Jacobson | Thank you. Great. I'm going to go ahead and share my screen. Ooh. |
| 00:21:58.83 | Melanie Jacobson | Pardon me. |
| 00:22:04.67 | Melanie Jacobson | No. Okay, can you see the screen okay? |
| 00:22:09.16 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:22:09.83 | Melanie Jacobson | Okay, great. Thank you. Um, Melanie Jacobson, Good evening honorable Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this evening, my name is Melanie Jacobson i'm principal of ID 360 we are a reach code and sustainability consulting firm serving. multiple municipalities throughout the state of California. And we are in discussions with staff about supporting this process for the reach code development. So I'm just gonna go through a very brief presentation this evening to talk through what a strategy might look like to implement reach codes within the city. So general strategy of what it might look like to implement these reach codes. we've got a couple of strategies here that I'm going to go over. The first one is to develop policy criteria consistent with the recommendations and the climate action plan. You know, reach codes have a number of different climate related attributes that are typically fulfilling on climate action plan. implementation measures. So that would be the first strategy. The next strategy is really is to engage the community to ensure all stakeholders are included so from community members homeowners to the development community engage in the communities are pretty important part of that development process. |
| 00:23:31.78 | Nastassya Saad | Exactly. |
| 00:23:35.37 | Melanie Jacobson | And then creating a policy that is progressive, but also development friendly. So it doesn't necessarily interrupt the flow of permits at the counter. and also considers the city's current building makeup. So honoring what the current building makeup is. And then the next one is to have clear and straightforward requirements. This is really strong message from the community throughout the state and especially in the Bay Area to have clear and straightforward requirements in REACH codes. And then consistent triggers amongst proposed requirements. So it's really clear to the applicant about what applies to what kind of permit. And then finally, utilizing the Marin County model reach codes as a primary strategy to be consistent with the regional efforts going on. And this slide highlights, and I'm sure that you're aware of some of the components about the County of Marin's model of reach codes. So there's four primary reach codes that have been adopted by the county and available to municipalities. So the four include the following. So the first is all electric for new construction buildings. So this would impact new buildings throughout the city. The next is electric readiness and infrastructure for new construction and renovations. So would trigger multiple different possible permits in this scenario. And then the third is energy efficiency and electrification for existing single family renovations. So this would impact a larger number of permit applications based on the fact that most buildings are existing. And then finally, the low carbon concrete requirements for all building projects, which looks at some of the embodied carbon aspects related to concrete. So this timeline takes a look at a standard reach code development process that's kind of typical for developing reach codes. Reach codes are those that are above and beyond the state minimum. The state minimum is required throughout the state and cities can take a reach code position. So take a leadership position via an ordinance, and this is a typical process. Typically, staff will begin the internal development process, so looking at you know, what kind of projects the city currently has in the, in the pipeline. as well as a history of the permit applications that have been um received to really understand how reach codes would affect the local community Next is staff meetings to discuss priorities and parameters for any studies that would need to happen related to any reach codes. Um, Subsequently, performing cost effectiveness studies which are happening at the state right now and the county's also participated in these, which is looking at ensuring that any policy that's adopted is cost effective, according to No. both their state requirements related to that, but also just good policy practice to adopt cost effective reach codes. And then the next step would be developing the reach code ordinance using the county's framework. They've outlined kind of a pathway to move forward. The next would be public engagement meetings. participating in the public engagement meetings that will meet the community where they are, whether that be remote, in person, in the night. or in the day, depending on the different community members And then having that really inform the direction for the policy, how that model reach code from the county is customized to the city. And then bringing that reach code to council for adoption. And then finally submitting the reach code for the required state filings. And after that's all completed would be the target effective date. So this is a really kind of condensed version condensed timeline of all the steps that typically take place related to your reach code. And I'm happy to answer any questions. I understand we're in communication, so this might not be the most appropriate forum, but I'm happy to answer any feedback or comments as they arise. Thank you. |
| 00:28:01.30 | Kristina Feller | Thank you very much. Director Phipps, I think that these This should probably be a public hearing under communications to allow not just the commissioners, but the general public to be able to engage or ask questions as well. Um, But similar to my previous comments, I mean, what we're talking about here, and I think pretty much most of us here on the commission understand We deal with them every day. But I want to make sure that this is being done under the tutelage of the Planning Commission, since this is the mandate that we have from the state. So I want to make sure that we have our ducks in a row and if we need to assign another working group or expand those that we already have, then we will do so. but let's make sure that we are doing this in concert and not circumventing a structure that we already have in place here. We can talk about that separately offline and bring that back. to the commission and to the community as a public hearing item to allow them an opportunity to weigh in on this. |
| 00:29:12.10 | Director Phipps | Certainly chair. Yeah. And look forward to discussing. |
| 00:29:15.03 | Kristina Feller | Okay. Thank you. |
| 00:29:17.93 | Director Phipps | All right, I will with chair permission, I will continue with communications. Thank you. |
| 00:29:22.96 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:29:23.11 | Director Phipps | Thank you. uh, |
| 00:29:23.70 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I just, can I just, I want to second Chair Feller's comment that a timeline should involve |
| 00:29:23.79 | Director Phipps | Thank you. |
| 00:29:23.82 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. I guess. |
| 00:29:30.83 | Jeffery Luxenberg | some sort of formal planning commission process like we suggested on the other code and any other code changes. So there wasn't a specific, it was a specific mention of the council, but not the planning commission. So I think if we could going forward, include the planning commission in the formal process, that would be appreciated. |
| 00:29:54.23 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Commissioner Luxenberg. Thank you. So on to the next item of communication. This is in regards to park flex. Thank you. I wanted to let the Commission know that I am working with Public Works staff, primarily Public Works Director Kevin McGowan and Assistant Civil Engineer Ali Iqbal to get up to speed on where we stand. Last week, I read through the draft proposed Parklet and Outdoor Dining Program document, and provided some feedback and input, particularly in connection with how and at what price point fees could or ought to be levied on businesses for constructing a park let outside of the business and the public right-of-way. And before moving on, I'd like to thank the Parklet Working Group for playing a pivotal role in getting us this far. A particular kudos to our commissioners, Chair Feller and Commissioner Luxenberg, for developing the document as it stands today. In addition to Morgan Pierce, Ali Iqbal, Kevin McGowan, our in attendance this evening, Chardin, Sergio Rudin, and Greg Rubens. That does it for that item of communication. On to the next 654 Sausalito Boulevard. I wanted to communicate to commissioners and members of the public that I am on the case, in a sense, and we heard from the White family, the neighbors earlier this evening in connection with this site. I have been brought up to speed on the situation and have taken the time to visit the site, meet with the neighbor, Sue White, reach out and discuss with Ben Anderson, the third-party arborist, as well as the project architect, Mason Woodhams. I have not yet had the opportunity to connect with the property owner, but I am in the process of reaching out and finding a mutually convenient time to meet. I look forward to corresponding with the stakeholders associated with the site and projects moving forward, as well as working to ensure an efficient and code compliant demolition and construction. |
| 00:31:05.21 | Nastassya Saad | you |
| 00:32:01.52 | Director Phipps | So that's my communication on that item. And there is one last item that is not formally listed on the agenda, but I wanted to bring it to commissioner attention this evening. This is in regards to the scheduled 11.30 commission meeting. Um, Based on our existing capacities for planning within Community Development Department and the tight timelines for provision of project materials in advance of Planning Commission meetings to commissioners, as well as the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I want to inform the Planning Commission that the scheduled commission meeting for November 30th, 2022 will be canceled. And my understanding is that this meeting was included in the annual commission calendar to accommodate project review as needed. And at this time, based on my previous comments related to project status in-house, limited capacities, tight timelines, and the upcoming holiday, it is not needed, in my opinion. And with that in mind, the next Planning Commission meeting will occur on the evening of December 14th, 2022, and I look forward to seeing you there. That does it for me on communications. Chair Feller, thank you, and I will pass the torch to you. |
| 00:33:23.99 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Director Phipps. Thank you so much for all your hard work. almost a month now that you've been in the role and already we can see a tide change. So thank you for that. Let's move on to reporting out to our subcommittees and working groups and We're just going to go in order here as they are listed on the agenda this evening. First is the Objective Design and Development Standards Subcommittee, which is comprised of myself and Vice Chair Junius. Vice Chair, would you like to report out on this? |
| 00:33:54.68 | Andrew Junius | Sure, thank you, Chair Feller. Thank you. OUR LAST, WE FINALLY GOT MOVING AGAIN. a lot of momentum that last summer and it kind of ended in August with some I think there were some contract issues and some funding problems that I think have been resolved. And so now we're moving again, our last, CONFAB with Chair Feller, the consultants, and Bob Brown and I. or seven. That was the second of the meetings. a significant amount of movement and progress. I think we're very, we've got a very good draft in place right now Chair Feller's been leading the charge on the, a variety of different very specific site studies that I think will give the community, I think a great opportunity to see kind of what the objective design standards really mean when they are going to be implemented So we're moving along. It's taken a lot longer than we had hoped, but it is a high priority and Chair Kyler and I will continue to press ahead. And please add whatever you'd like to add, Chair Fowler. |
| 00:34:54.37 | Kristina Feller | No, that was a great report out. I think the only thing I would add just from a time perspective is we would I think we need to get back to brief the city council and start to share some of those studies probably in early January. So that's something to look forward to to our 2023 calendar, which I know is yet to materialize, but we will need to adopt that shortly. before the end of this calendar year, at least our first one or two meetings for January and then approve the rest later. But thank you for that report out, Vice Chair Junius, and thank you for your work on that. Um, Let's move on. I'm going to put the next two together, the California Housing Legislation Working Group and the Standard Conditions of Approval for Resolutions. which are two subcommittees that are comprised of Vice Chair Junius and Commissioner Luxembourg together. So if I could ask Commissioner Luxembourg and Vice Chair Junius to report out on both. |
| 00:35:55.61 | Andrew Junius | Chair, let me start with the state housing legislation and then I'll cast it off to Commissioner Luxembourg on the conditions. portion. Um, You know, honestly, 2022 was just an incredible flood of legislation coming out of Sacramento on housing issues. More than three dozen bills were signed by the governor that passed out of the legislature, which is kind of stunning. So I'm certainly not going to, to go through all 36 of those, a lot of them are technical, but they're very, very... I think they're gonna be very important in the coming years in terms of housing production. There are a handful, about four or five or six that I would like to just briefly give commissioners and the community a flavor of what's going on. I think there are some interesting ones. We've talked a few times already about AB 2011. This is the streamlining administerial Uh, legislation that, focuses on commercial zones. I do think there's going to be some significant movement on AB 2011 with people taking advantage of that. when it becomes effective, which is not until this summer. So we have a little bit of time there. There was also kind of a companion act that had a similar intent, SB 6, called the Middle Class Housing Act. You know, my opinion, I don't think we're gonna see much activity there because it doesn't provide quite the same in quite the same way. bonuses that AB 2011 does, but it also has some significant labor qualifications, which I think are gonna hamstring that one. But we'll see. They're both going to be effective in 2023 and we'll see where those go. Um, The next one I wanted to talk about is I think really kind a sleeper one that I, that not too many people are talking about, AB 1551. This is the first time I think we're seeing the legislature connect commercial development in an effort to incentivize commercial developers to both work with affordable housing developers to basically create mixed use housing. commercial, you know, density bonuses up to this point have been to make housing projects bigger. AND TO INCENTIVIZE HOUSING DEVELOPERS, BOTH MARKET RATE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING. that there's a direct bonus to a commercial development that also participates with an affordable housing developer to produce affordable housing. And that participation can either be actually building units on the commercial site, along with the commercial project. So you got a true mixed juice project donating land to a qualifying affordable housing developer or even paying fees. So this creates, I think, a very interesting framework I think create some interesting synergies and partnerships that have just not been really that possible or that feasible in the past. I've seen this a lot in my career where, you know, the market rate world and the affordable world and the, uh, and the, um, commercial development world had enough incentives to work together in this very well could be one of the new tools that will make that happen. And then just a couple of a more in the, in the weeds one, we, we talk a lot about, um, Um, accessible ADUs, accessory dwelling units, There are Yet another raft of changes, technical changes under AB 2221 and SB 897 that makes continue to refine and try to improve the ADU processing as well as making some actual physical some changes to the physical requirements. At this point, working to try to create situations where the ADUs don't go below a certain floor area, and increasing the minimum height limits for ADUs. So there's lots of nuances there that I think the city's gonna need to get up to speed on relatively quickly. with respect to 80 years And then the final one I wanted to mention was, was with respect to SB 35. Um, There's an AB 2668 that's amending SB 35. And there's a lot of, SB 35 is a, I think a very, very promising a law that has been used a fair amount and it's getting used more, but it still has kind of clunky requirements And there are ways that, you know, what appear to be good SB35 sites and projects get stuck in some of the weeds and then the weeds are hopefully getting pulled out here. One of them importantly, deals with the Cortese list. This is the state managed list regarding toxic sites and hazardous soils. That's been an enormous problem going forward because the Cortese list is huge. and it's almost impossible to get off the Cortese list. So a lot of very eligible sites are kind of mired in the Cortesialist web. of bureaucracy. And this is the first time I think we're seeing a way out of that. So I think there's some Cartesian list reform that's gonna be, we're gonna be seeing in 2023 I think, make SB 35 more usable. So thanks for your patience. That's just a flavor of the, of the large raft of legislation that came out of Yeah. of the legislature this session. Thank you. |
| 00:41:01.33 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:41:02.94 | Jeffery Luxenberg | And I'll touch on the standard conditions of approval. I've touched base with Director Phipps about the standard conditions of approval, letting them know what the commission is looking for in order to standardize those and simplify those and make sure that there are no errors in those. And after discussion, we're going to meet with City Attorney Rudin and Director Phipps and Vice Chair Junius and myself. We're going to wait for the director to get his staffing in line. So we're probably talking about something early next year, probably January, more likely February, where we start that process. |
| 00:41:50.51 | Kristina Feller | Excellent. Thank you. Thank you both for those updates and the hard work. That's a lot of help. |
| 00:41:55.50 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:41:56.33 | Kristina Feller | for both subcommittees, so thank you. Um, Let's move on to the Ferry Landslide Working Group. Again, this is a working group that Vice Chair Junius and I sit on Um, I'll just start with a quick report out. We've had two two meetings so far with Director McGowan of Public Works and his consulting team. We have asked that the proposed design with our comments, which includes HPC as well as Planning Commission comments, actually come back to the Planning Commission I know that there was an item last night on the consent calendar for the city council regarding this as an update. and I believe it was pulled off. I don't know if it will be heard at a later time, but we ask Director Phipps, if you could please coordinate with Director McGowan to make sure that that comes back. to the commission. um, Any other... report out, Vice Chair. |
| 00:43:00.45 | Andrew Junius | I hope you've been on top of that one. I appreciate it, Chair Feller, thank you. |
| 00:43:03.43 | Kristina Feller | Okay, great. Okay, then let's move on to HIAC, which is the Housing Element Advisory Committee. Commissioner Saad and I sit on that. Commissioner Saad, would you like to start us off? |
| 00:43:16.25 | Nastassya Saad | Yes, absolutely, Chair Feller. Thank you. Our last meeting for HIAC was on October 13th and we had reviewed a final draft with public comment included. We did receive over a hundred pieces of public comment. It was a big return from our community. As a note, everything is on the city website and the virtual binder for any members of the public that want to do any further review. Since that meeting, we have submitted our draft version of the 2023 to 2031 housing element. to the Department of Housing and Community Development. So HCD is sitting with the government as of now. We do have some next steps. lined up. These are all sort of rough estimated estimated times. But we will be, there will be a preparation for a draft environmental impact report, an EIR. It should be, I think we're anticipating a release in November and that will follow a 30-day comment period. We do need to set a meeting for the draft EIR, which I believe is coming towards the end of this year. It's not yet been scheduled. So that is TBD, but it should be coming, I believe, before the close of 2022. That EIR will have, like all of them, a public review period of about 45 days. So that takes us into the beginning of next year. And, um, HCD's review of our draft housing element is supposed to be by the end of January of 2023. One thing that is, I think, not yet Fully determined is our planning commission, Check-in of sorts, we're looking to schedule a meeting, ideally with our consultant. uh, to go over the comments from HCD, including, you know, public comment, make recommendations for city council. So, A lot of. work still to go and there should be a town hall. I believe we're going to have one more I believe roughly scheduled for February. So also to be determined, but we should be, Having one more town hall for the whole community. We've had three before that brought a lot of great commentary. So we would encourage everyone to join once that's scheduled. And. I think I know correctly, Chair Feller, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the housing element would need to be adopted sometime at the start of end of March or early April. So that, as far as I understand, it would be our timeline from the consultant. So appreciate that. Am I missing anything? |
| 00:46:18.18 | Kristina Feller | No, I appreciate the report out. The only thing I'd like to add, if I may do so, Commissioner Saad, is this commission needs to hear and review and comment and make recommendations for revision and do all those things. It's quite a lot of work. There's a lot of information. There's a lot of detail to get through. I have gone back as I chair the housing element as well as this commission, I've gone back to the consultant. and asked for greater detail and greater clarity about her idea about what a check-in is with the Planning Commission, because this commission does need to sign off on on a draft housing plan. that sign off and recommendation from the Planning Commission does need to go to the City Council. and ultimately they ratify it. They may or may not take all of our recommendations We learned that in the general plan process, but there's a lot of work to be done here and a lot of reading and so Director Phipps I would just ask that we work offline with the HIAC consultant to make sure that this commission that we figure out a way for this Commission to get completely briefed up to speed on an enormous amount of work in order for us to be able to do our work on behalf of the city and the community to make those recommendations it's a heavy lift. |
| 00:47:54.65 | Kristina Feller | Okay, let's keep moving on. three working groups here that are comprised of Commissioner Saad and Commissioner Graff. They are 110 fourth suite, 12 El Portal and 52 Varda Landing. If the two of you could report out on this and please indicate if there's any further work required or if your work is done so we can retire these working groups. So over to you. |
| 00:48:26.50 | Nastassya Saad | I'm going to let Commissioner Graff speak for us for 1 10 fourth, but just as a note, we had wrapped up 52 Varta landing. And... I just lost my agenda. |
| 00:48:40.54 | Nastassya Saad | you know, |
| 00:48:40.84 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. Yes, thank you. El Portal, a meeting or two ago. So we won't be reporting out further on those. They can be removed, but we have concluded 1-10-4th and... Commissioner Graff can give our final update there. |
| 00:48:55.72 | Richard Graef | okay thank you commissioner Saad um Yes, we had come back and forth with the applicants regarding materials They sent us visual samples and We finally got a resolution on the colors and materials that they submitted and Commissioner Saad and I concurred that they are proposals were acceptable and we've indicated to them that As far as we're concerned, I think they have the approvals necessary. So whatever our remaining administrative processes required need to happen, but as far as our input goes, I think we've, finish that out. Thank you. |
| 00:49:59.87 | Kristina Feller | Excellent, thank you. Director Phipps, I think with the report out on all three items, we can now officially retire those three working groups and Any additional administrative work can be handled by community development and your team. And let's go ahead and remove these as we move forward with future agendas. |
| 00:50:21.87 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah. |
| 00:50:22.02 | Kristina Feller | Yes, Commissioner Saad. |
| 00:50:23.36 | Nastassya Saad | May I just ask for Director Phipps, those previous 52 Varda and 12. I don't know why I can never remember it. 12lportal.com. I believe was under Dan Hortert's time and those there were some communications. Do you have everything you need or do you need anything forwarded over to cross that off your list? |
| 00:50:51.03 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Commissioner Saad for the comment. I think what I'd like to do is dig into both of these and to confirm, and in the case that I don't have everything I need, follow up with commissioners, particularly yourself and Commissioner Graff to get brought up to speed as needed. And appreciate the offer. |
| 00:51:13.07 | Nastassya Saad | Absolutely. |
| 00:51:15.50 | Kristina Feller | Well, thank you both, Commissioner Graff, Commissioner Saad, for all your hard work. on these three projects. So thank you for that. Moving on, we have parklets identified here again. Commissioner Luxenberg, did you have anything to add to Director Phipps' report out? |
| 00:51:32.00 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Just a note that I provided a history of the working group process to Director Phipps and appreciate the fact that he's now taken on this effort and is going to work with the Public Works Department, both Kevin McGowan and Ali, along with working with Sergio Rudin to finalize the items that we have talked about at the last working group meeting. We probably might need one more working group meeting, but then we can get this back to the city council. So I want to say kudos to Director Phipps for his effort in this regard. |
| 00:52:14.21 | Kristina Feller | I echo the kudos and also kudos to you, Commissioner Luxenberg. Thank you for giving the background in history and taking the time to do that. It's been an orphan for a little while. So thank you for that. Um, So I've got, I would like to, appoint a new working group specifically to focus on master planning efforts as we get started on that. I believe Director Phipps circulated a communication I had as a follow up to the city manager. regarding defining what master planning is and certainly defining it versus what a general plan is. So I would like to ask Commissioner Saad if she would be willing to sit on a working group for master planning Sausalito with me at least to get this started. I think the continuation of the two of us as it relates to HEAC, since that's going to be such a huge impact to master planning, is important just to start with there to get this scoped and moving and working with Director Phipps and his team to at least get it scoped and moving and out of the blocks. Would you be willing to do that with me? |
| 00:53:30.68 | Nastassya Saad | Absolutely. Chair Feller. I'd be happy to. Thank you. |
| 00:53:33.25 | Kristina Feller | Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, I want to just ask if, if commissioners have any other communications that they would like to share or comments um commissioner graff do you have anything else |
| 00:53:48.56 | Richard Graef | Nothing at this point, thank you. |
| 00:53:48.57 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Okay, thank you. Commissioner Saad. Nothing further. Thank you, Chair Feller. Commissioner Luxenberg. |
| 00:53:59.02 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Nothing at this time. Thank you. |
| 00:54:01.01 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Vice chair Junius. |
| 00:54:03.12 | Andrew Junius | No. |
| 00:54:03.19 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. |
| 00:54:03.30 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 00:54:03.34 | Kristina Feller | at this time. |
| 00:54:03.83 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:54:04.03 | Kristina Feller | Thanks. |
| 00:54:04.32 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:54:04.79 | Kristina Feller | I do not either and director Phipps any any final report outs from the department |
| 00:54:13.67 | Director Phipps | Nothing additional, Chair Feller. Thank you. |
| 00:54:13.70 | Kristina Feller | Uh, Great. Thank you very much. Since that's the case, I would like to make a motion to adjourn. All those in favor. I'm |
| 00:54:24.94 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Aye. |
| 00:54:26.09 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:54:26.10 | Kristina Feller | Bye. Thank you everybody for all your work and have a good evening. |
| 00:54:30.20 | Andrew Junius | Have a great Thanksgiving everybody. |
| 00:54:31.08 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. everybody. |
| 00:54:31.28 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:54:31.35 | Andrew Junius | Have a great day. |
| 00:54:31.40 | Nastassya Saad | Happy Thanksgiving. |
| 00:54:31.81 | Andrew Junius | Thanksgiving, you guys. |
| 00:54:31.84 | Nastassya Saad | Bye. |
| 00:54:31.86 | Kristina Feller | So, I'm going to go. |
| 00:54:31.87 | Nastassya Saad | Happy Thanksgiving, you guys. Happy Thanksgiving. Adios. Adios. Adios. |
| 00:54:33.11 | Kristina Feller | I just get that money. |
| 00:54:33.86 | Andrew Junius | I don't know. |
| 00:54:34.84 | Kristina Feller | I'm not sure. |
| 00:54:35.03 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:54:35.15 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:54:35.18 | Richard Graef | Yeah. |
| 00:54:35.37 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:54:35.47 | Andrew Junius | Adios. |
| 00:54:35.96 | Kristina Feller | . |
| 00:54:38.78 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:54:38.79 | Richard Graef | Get out of here. |
| 00:54:40.03 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |